solar shed help

[solarsam12345]

I live in the UK. What size solar system would I need for my shed. I will run a few led bulbs, charge my phone and tablet in the summer and also run a fan for maby a hour a day when its above 20 degrees. Will my 46ah golf cart battery bank with 600w pure sine inverter and a 40w solar array with 5a pwm charge controller be sufficient or will I need more power? I would also like to have some extra power available for some other alliances occasionally for eg a TV or drill. Can anyone help

Many thanks,
Sam.

[inetdog]

I live in the UK. What size solar system would I need for my shed. I will run a few led bulbs, charge my phone and tablet in the summer and also run a fan for maby a hour a day when its above 20 degrees. Will my 46ah golf cart battery bank with 600w pure sine inverter and a 40w solar array with 5a pwm charge controller be sufficient or will I need more power? I would also like to have some extra power available for some other alliances occasionally for eg a TV or drill. Can anyone help

Many thanks,
Sam.

Your 12V(?) 46AH battery would have to deliver 50A to allow your inverter to actually put out 600W. With a 46AH flooded (not sealed) lead acid battery you should not draw more than about 10A from it. Unless you have an AGM type (sealed) battery, your inverter is bigger than you can use and will draw more power when not running than a smaller inverter.
With a PWM controller you will need more panel power to be able to properly charge the battery.

[solarsam12345]

Your 12V(?) 46AH battery would have to deliver 50A to allow your inverter to actually put out 600W. With a 46AH flooded (not sealed) lead acid battery you should not draw more than about 10A from it. Unless you have an AGM type (sealed) battery, your inverter is bigger than you can use and will draw more power when not running than a smaller inverter.
With a PWM controller you will need more panel power to be able to properly charge the battery.

It is a agm and I plan on upgrading to a 110ah deep cycle leisure battery with a extra 50w of solar and a 10a cc

And yes, 12v

Also any ideas how to connect a mc4 connector into a standard charge controller with screw terminal inputs?

[inetdog]

It is a agm and I plan on upgrading to a 110ah deep cycle leisure battery with a extra 50w of solar and a 10a cc

And yes, 12v

Also any ideas how to connect a mc4 connector into a standard charge controller with screw terminal inputs?

The standard procedure is to get MC4 connectors and crimp your own wires or take an MC4 cord and cut it in half to get a connector attached to a wire you can strip.
Other alternative is to get panel mount MC4 connectors and make an adapter box.

[solarsam12345]

The standard procedure is to get MC4 connectors and crimp your own wires or take an MC4 cord and cut it in half to get a connector attached to a wire you can strip.
Other alternative is to get panel mount MC4 connectors and make an adapter box.

So if I did that with a 156ah deep cycle battery bank, 10a duel battery cc, 90w of solar and almost all loads dc would I be covered? What are your opinions on lead crystal battery's.

Ii also contacted my go to supplier for my panels and they said I can't put a 10w panel in parallel with a 30w one, is this just rubbish to make me spend more money or is it true? I'm very confused about that.

Thanks for replying

[inetdog]

A 10W panel and a 30W panel are both small change in the greater picture. You pay more per watt in the smaller panels than the larger ones for the most part.
If your 10 and your 30 are the same voltage (Open circuit -Voc- and max power -Vmp-) then you can put them in parallel.

[jony101]

you need a bigger solar panel. 40 watts will only get about 2 amps of charging power when the sun is overhead, even less if its cloudy. That would barely be enough to charge a 20 amp battery. Your power needs are small but still too large for 40 watts.

With a 120 watt panel and 10 amp pwm cc, you get about 6 amps of charge power, which will charge up your 46 ah battery. A 46 ah battery actually only has 23 ah of usable power, most inverters will kicked off line as soon as the battery gets below 12 volts.

[solarsam12345]

you need a bigger solar panel. 40 watts will only get about 2 amps of charging power

So will my upgrade of a 10a cc, 50w solar panel added, thicker cable and a 110ah deep cycle battery be ok?

Thanks for replying